Improvement in apparatus for felting hats



TUNITEDv STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM H. HOYT, OF BETI-IEL, CONNECTICUT.

IMPROVEMENT IN APPARATUS FOR FELTING HATS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 34,963, dated April 15,1862.

To @ZZ whom t may con/cern,.-

Be it known that I, IVilliam I-I. I'IOYT, of Bethel, in the county ofFairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and Improved HatFelting and Sizing Machine; and I do hereby declare that the followingis a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, inwhich- Figure l is a vertical section of my invention, taken in the line@c Fig. 3. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same. Fig. S is a plan ortop view of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the severalfigures.

This invention consists in the employment or use of an adj ustableendless apron, feedingplate, and a rotary pressing or rubbing cylinder,placed within a suitable box or case and arranged substantially ashereinafter fully shown and described, whereby hat-bodies may be feltedand shrunk to the desired dimensions in a very perfect manner and withbut triling labor ou the part of thejattendant.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct myinvention, I will proceed to describe it.

A represents a rectangular box or case which contains the working partsof the machine, and B is an endless apron Within said box or case andpassing over rollers C C', the roller C being at the front part of thecase and the roller C at its back part. The roller C has its journals aiitted in the sides of the case; but the roller C has its bearing fittedin arms D D, which are placed one at each side of the case and havetheir back ends fitted on the journals a a of roller C. (See Fig. 2.This arrangement admits of the arms D D swingy ing or working on thejournals a a, and an up-and-down adjustment is consequently allowed theapron B, a slot h being made in each side of the case for the roller Cto rise and fall in, as well as rollers E E, which serve as intermediatebearings or support-s for the apron, and which have their journals alsoin the arms D D. The apron B is held in proper position by a curved rodor bar F, the lower ends of which are attached to the arms D D, neartheir back ends, and has its upper part passing through a lever G on thetop of the case, the fulcrum c of said lever being on a cross-bar (l andthe back end of the lever connected to a yoke H, which is fitted on avertical guide I, on which a spiral spring, J, is placed, to act uponthe yoke and sustain the lever and apron. This will be fully understoodby referring to Fig. l. The upper end of the guide-rod I has a nut eupon it, to serve as abearing for the upper end of spring .I and forregulating the pressure of the same. On the guide-rod I there is placeda spiral spring e', on which the yoke H rests. This spring e rests on anut f, by which the position of spring e may be regulated-that is tosay, raised or lowered on I, as desired.

K is a board or plate, of rectangular form and fitted in the case A atits front part, directly over the apron B. The under surface of theplate is corrugated or tluted longitudinally, and it extends the wholewidth of the case. The inner part of the plate K has rollers g gattached to it, one at each side, and these rollers are iitted in curvedinclined slots h 7L at the inner sides of case A. (See Fig. l.)

L L are spiral springs, which are placed on inclined rods M M, attachedto the plate K, near its back part, and having their upper ends passthrough a horizontal bar N, the ends of which are provided with tenonsthat are litt-ed in inclined slots t' z' in the inner sides of the case,as shown in Fig. l. The bar N has a screw O attached to it at itscenter, and this screw has a nut j upon it. The outer part of the screwO fits in. a hole at the center of a cross-bar I), at the front end ofthe case. The outer ends of the springs L L bear against the bar N, andthe nut j of the screw O, in consequence of bearing against thecross-bar P, serves to brace bar N. By adjusting nut j the pressure ofthe springs L L may be regulated as desired, and said springs have atendency to keep the rollers g g at the lower ends of the slots h h, andconsequently the inner part of plate K depressed to its fullest extent,as will be understood by referring to Fig. l. To the inner end of theplate K there is attached a iiuted roller Q, which extends nearly orquite the whole length of said plate, and the outer end of the plate issustained by a spring R from bar P.

S represents what may be termed a rubhing-cylinder or rotary rubber,which is formed of a series of segment-plates lo, at-

tached at one end by hinges l to fianges m m m m, the journals of theshaft of which are fit-ted in the sides of the case A. Each plate k hasa spiral spring n, bearing against its inner side, and these springshave a tendency to keep the segment-plates k pressed outward from theiianges m to their fullest extent. The outer surfaces of thesegment-plates k are grooved obliquely, as shown at o in Fig. 3, cachplate having its grooves o in a reverse direction to those of itsadjoining plates. In

the case A, directly underneath the apron B, there is placed an inclinedboard or chute T, said board or chute being inclined downward from theback t-o the front end of the case, as shown clearly in Fig. l.

The rubbing-cylinder or rotary rubber, as well as the board or plate Kand case A, are of wood. The endless apron B may be of any suitabletextile or other fabric.

U is a lever, which is placed on a shaft V in the case A, and projectsunderneath the lever G; and XV isa band, which passes around pulleys pp, placed, respectively, on one of the journals a of the roller C ofapron B, and on one end of the shaft of the rotary rubber S.

The operation is as follows: The hat-body to be operated upon is rolledin a cloth, as usual, the body being saturated with hot water. Motion isgiven to the roller C in the direction indicated by the arrow l, and therolled hat-body is inserted between the apron B and the outer-end ofplate K. The apron B moves in the direction indicated by arrow 2, andthe plate K serves as a feeder by pressing the roll down on the apronand enabling the latter to carry it along underneath theplate, and theplate also serves to complete the rolling of the body within its clothif such operation had not been completed prior to its insertion betweenthe apron and plate. The rolled hat-body is thus conveyed underneath therubbingcylinder or rotary rubber S, and is kept in contact with thelatter in consequence of the spring J acting upon it through the mediumof the yoke H, lever G, and rod F. lVhile the rolled hat-body is in thisposition, to wit-underneat h the rubbin gcylinder or rotary rubber-thelatter by its rotation (the direction of which is indicated by arrow 8)acts upon it, the plates 7s subjecting it to a necessary degree ofrubbing and friction ,which is imparted to it intermittingly, therebeing a cessation of pressure from the time one plate leaves it untilthe adjoining one comes in contact with it. The oblique grooves o in thefaces of the plates k give a lateral Vpressure to the hat-body both tothe right and left, and aid greatly the felting operation. Thisintermitting pressure closely resembles the ordinary hand-pressure, andalso greatly facilitates the felting of the hatbody. The hat-body whilebeing thus acted upon by S is rotated on the apron B directly Y over therollers E E, which serve to support the apron, while the roller Qprevents the hatbody being forced back underneath' K, the springs L Lresisting the backward pressure of the hat-body, and also keeping theplate K down on the hat-body while the latter is being fed to orunderneath the rubbing-cylinder or rotary rubber. When the hat-body hasbeen sufficiently acted upon, the operator depresses the outer end oflever U, and thereby actuates lever G and forces down the back end ofapron B, so that the hat-body may roll from the apron B and drop on theupper end of the inclined board T, which conducts it to the front partof the case, as shown in red, Fig. l, from which it is taken by theoperator, unrolled, androlled up in a reverse direcion and again passedthrough the machine, the operation being repeated until the hat-body isthoroughly felted and brought to the proper or desired size.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The adjustable endless apron B, and pressure or feeding plate K withor without yroller Q, in connection with a rubbing-cylin- .der or rotaryrubber S, arranged for joint operation, substantially as and for thepurpose set forth.

2. The peculiar construction of the rubbingcylinder or rotary rubber S,as herein shown and described-to wit, having plates k, of segi mentform, hinged to iian ges m or their equivalents on a rotary shaft andacted upon by springs n, in order to give the necessary pressureintermittingly to the hat-bod y, as set forth.

3. The combination of the inclined board or chute T with the adjustableapron B, rubbing-cylinder or rotary rubber S, and pressure or feedingplate K, as and for the purpose specified.

WVM. H. HOYT.

Vitnesses:

SAMUEL A. CoUcH, ANDREW L. BENEDIc'r.

